Diamond in the Rough
by thuychan
Summary: Asami finds a diamond in the rough...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter: 1

Chapter Rating: PG

Pairing: Asami/Akihito

Summary: Asami finds a diamond in the rough…

Disclaimer: Viewfinder belongs to Yamane Ayano

Calloused fingertips lightly ghosted over a pale cheek. They smudged over the dried tear-tracks that had trialed down. The boy's skin was burning up. Never glancing away from him, Asami continued to listen to the doctor's prognosis:

"…His appendix has been successfully removed last night. I recon he's had abdominal pain for about three days before his appendix finally ruptured. His peritonitis was expected, but really, to be in the horrid condition he was in, I'm flabbergasted he's survived. He still has a high fever, but the touch-and-go period is over."

Asami's hand lifted the covers to graze over a bandaged shoulder. "And I assume you've done the other procedure I've asked for?"

"Yes, Asami-sama. I've embedded it quite deep." Dr. Kimura confided. "It's small enough that he won't be able to feel it."

"Good. And the boy's assessment?"

"The extensive check-up that you've asked for has been processed. To sum it all he's extremely malnourished and underweight by quite a bit. The bruises and cuts have been tended to, and his three broken ribs have been mended and wrapped. Because of the conditions he was in at the warehouse, the heat and lack of oxygen has caused him to develop some breathing problems, most likely just asthma and not a life-threatening issue. However, the abuse he's suffered seems to have been long-term, and there are also signs of sexual abuse." Dr. Kimura adjusted his glasses a bit and fidgeted with the file in his hands while glancing at Asami to gauge his reaction. Dr. Kimura had served under Asami for years, but that didn't guarantee any immunity. He cleared his throat and chose his next words with care. Hopefully, they weren't his last. "And conducting the exam, I've discovered that he is visual and hearing impaired."

Silence.

Dr. Kimura waited, trying to appear calm outwardly but scrambling like a duck underneath.

Asami's hand didn't falter in its travels over the planes of the boy's face. "Blind and deaf. And I'm assuming mute as well due to senses impairment and trauma from abuse. You're quite a catch, my Akihito."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter: 2

Chapter Rating: PG

Pairing: Asami/Akihito

Summary: Asami finds a diamond in the rough…

Disclaimer: Viewfinder belongs to Yamane Ayano

Hi everyone! Sorry for the late introduction, but thanks for reading the first chapter that I posted. This is the first time I've written fanfiction, so I'm still trying out the ropes. Reviews and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Hope you enjoy this as well.

"He's so cute." A chuckle. "It makes me want to eat him." Asami's sharp eyes peered deeply at the unmoving lump on the bed, hooked up to the teeth like a marionette on strings. The glint in his eyes, coupled with a certain set in his jaw, made Kirishima feel sorry for the boy. His boss was like a lion ready to pounce. And "eating" wasn't said in a figurative sense.

Asami motioned at Kirishima to speak.

"Ah, yes. Dr. Kimura had informed me that the nurses found the boy screaming in his sleep this morning." Kirishima didn't know which tone he should have taken, so he opted for neutral and fidgeted with his glasses.

"Hmm." That was a continue-on "hmm."

"Dr. Kimura has asked if you would like to extend his stay here at the hospital by a few days in case any unseen symptoms might occur. However, he did approve his discharge today."

"Get me Kimura and prepare the car."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter: 3

Chapter Rating: PG

Pairing: Asami/Akihito

Summary: Asami finds a diamond in the rough…

Disclaimer: Viewfinder belongs to Yamane Ayano

I know my second chapter was a little short, so I hope this will appease you guys.

The first thing Akihito felt when he woke up was a raging headache that threatened to burst out of his skull. He had to clench his teeth together to fight against the urge to vomit, the nausea climbing its way up his throat. Taking several deep breaths in and out, focusing on nothing but calming the uncontrollable pain into a more tolerable one, he curled into a tight ball underneath the sheets.

Trying to tuck his arms to his chest, there was a sudden sharp pain in his right one. He felt at the spot and fumbled with a needle, further jabbing it in a weird position. Hissing from the pain, he yanked it out and casted it aside.

It wasn't until then that he became aware that he was conscious, and even more so, that he wasn't dead. No longer holed up in that godforsaken burning hell, a second-long memory that had made him shiver, Akihito realized that he was alive. That thought barely lasted a second before the pain in his head escalated to new proportions.

Suddenly hands were seizing him.

His mind jolted and his body recoiled like a snake, panic and pain deteriorating what little of a mind he had left. All that was left was fear. He thrashed wildly at the many hands that tried to hold him down. The fear that had iced his veins fueled his rampant attempts for a good few minutes, but his body couldn't take the demands they were subjugated to. His breathes were coming out short and fast, his body slow and sluggish at the very best. Eventually, he couldn't even muster up the heat to want to beat back at the hands holding him down. His head slumped on the ridiculously soft pillow, like a cloud. Something pricked his left arm, and his mind became so heavy.

….

The next time he woke up he couldn't feel anything. His body wouldn't move. And his emotions were so calm that it should have scared him. Ah, so they drugged him.

Once again, he felt a hand on his body. It was playing with his bandaged fingers. The stranger's hand was large and calloused; hands like iron bars, unrelenting and unyielding, strong enough to crush his much smaller ones. However, they did nothing but trail up and down his arms, grazing oh-so gently over his knuckles that there was no more pressure on his skin than a breath of air.

His eyes fluttered open when the hand that began trailing on his own disappeared. It was obvious that he was blind, but nevertheless he scanned the area where the strange man might have been. If not his eyes, then it would be his nose doing the searching.

His nose sniffed at the air and the faint smell of cigarettes wafted by. Akihito's left hand unconsciously came up to touch the cigarette burns right below his left collarbone through the large t-shirt he was wearing. His lips quirked sardonically.

_That bastard_.

Those strange hands came back as if he heard what Akihito was thinking, two of them this time, and lifted him forward to meet the front of a large, shirt-clad chest. Similar to his hands, the man's arms were like iron chains encircling him, and his chest like a boulder. It was wet when Akihito placed his palms in front of him to try to distance himself from the strange man. And yes, the rock hard chest was male. He realized he was crying when his finger wounded their way up his cheeks to grasp at his eyes. At the realization the soft bed underneath him shifted and the man lifted him onto his lap, smothering him once again to his chest. The smell of cigarettes intensified. Akihito automatically leaned his head towards the man's face and sniffed amidst the tears: expensive cologne and something else; a powdery smell, like the fireworks going off, sulfur.

A small rumble came from the man's chest and Akihito immediately stilled. The man started touching him all over, but his hands never strayed farther than his face and arms. Akihito didn't protest. He didn't even have it in him to feel tired. It would be all over while he waited. He needed to lose himself and his mind somewhere far away from his body for a bit while the man had his turn at him.

He had people touch him every day, every hour of the day. And while he suspected that he had been transported to a different whorehouse, he guessed nothing really ever changed. He didn't even understand his initial curiosity towards the man, but all that would happen here on out would be like a routine he was far too used to. It was a vicious cycle that never ended.

Only, it did.

End that was.

It ended when the man pulled him into a sitting position. It ended when the man's chest rumbled, indicating that he was talking to someone. It ended when the smell of food flitted through his nostrils, tempting him enough to find an appetite that crashed over him in waves. It ended when a spoon was brought to his lips. It ended when soft lips pecked his cheek.

It ended.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter: 4

Chapter Rating: PG

Pairing: Asami/Akihito

Summary: Asami finds a diamond in the rough…

Disclaimer: Viewfinder belongs to Yamane Ayano

Just clearing up any confusion in the last chapter, Aki's tears seeped onto Asami's shirt, and that's why it was wet. Asami wasn't crying. Boy, if he did, that would be the day! So on to chapter 4…

Except he ate too much. So Akihito leaned over the side of the never-ending bed and vomited. The food didn't taste nearly as good coming up as it did going down. Akihito grimaced. It's been happening for a week now, ever since he woke up after being in that burning heat.

He's never had enough to eat. That's why when he's brought more food than he could eat three times a day and every day, he could not do anything but eat until he was past gorging himself. His stomach, like an alcoholic after a serious period of withdrawal, couldn't handle it.

But he couldn't help himself.

Greed was such a bad thing.

But it was the first time in his life – ever – that he could eat his fill, that he had a soft bed to sleep on, that he didn't live in fear and abuse.

And it was all surreal and so strange that he couldn't get over it.

But it was supposed to be normal he told himself.

Only, it wasn't. He didn't know where he was. It wasn't another whorehouse or district because he was the only one here. Perhaps he was sold to someone else after that last man. Akihito dreaded the memories of those times. He didn't know how he had survived. And he didn't know why.

Gentle hands shook him from his revere as they began to clean up his mess and fuss over him. A handkerchief wiped away the vomit that had dribbled down his chin, and then he was being led to the bathroom to bathe.

The women and men whose hands held him throughout the day were gentle, never harsh, never hurting or twisting.

In the mornings after he woke up, several women, judging by their slender hands, would help him to the bathroom to brush his teeth and freshen up. Afterwards they would help him shower and then redress his bandages. They would assist him with dressing and then he would eat breakfast. And usually he could keep the food down in the mornings. He would be escorted back to bed afterwards, sleep, and then be aroused for the next meal of the day. A doctor would come by after lunch to check up on him and run some tests. After that someone would help him try to walk and move his legs again. His legs were so bruised, broken, and disused it was painful just to move them. Next he would have dinner, and once that was over the women would carry him to the bath. When his hair was toweled and dried he would crawl into his bed and stall as long as he could before eventually falling asleep.

Sometimes he would still be awake, just barely, when the man would come.

But most of the time he would wake up in the middle of the night to shifting sheets and a dip in the bed. Warm warms would encircle him, words he couldn't hear whispered close to his ear, and then that man would kiss him on the cheek, like a sort of ritual ever since that first time. Perhaps the man was a figment of his imagination, conjured up out of loneliness. He figured he might have been dreaming the whole thing up, but even that was better than nothing. Akihito didn't know what to think about the man, but lately the word anchor would come to mind. And just like his current predicament, the fact that he would ever think about someone in such a way was strange.

….

"Asami-sama brought home a boy."

"I heard he doesn't leave him alone."

"My brother told me his new pet was _human_."

"_I _heard Asami-sama _adopted_ him."

"A human in the family registry…"

"Did you hear?"

….

1 MONTH LATER

"So, I heard you finally let the boy out of that room."

"My dear grandfather, nothing ever escapes your sharp eyes."

"Bah!" The elder Asami waved him off. "I'm as blind as a bat in my old age."

Asami chuckled. "I'm sure many men would love to trade places with you. Retired or not, you've lost nothing after all these years."

"Oh, the things I've gained I can do without. I've become an old man, Ryuichi."

"Certainly not all men of your age have a face like _that_." Asami saluted his drink at a man who looked but a few years older than his own self.

Nearly identical in countenance, except for slight deep crinkles around his eyes and dark circles underneath, Asami Ryota peered intensively at his grandson over the rim of his teacup. "Come now dear boy, I am old, but don't treat me like a senile man. I've come to discuss this recent hobby I hear you've been cultivating." His tone, which at first had been jovial even, turned serious, his voice neutral.

Asami had been in the rose garden on the Northern side of the house, sitting on the patio bench and watching Akihito explore his surroundings. The boy's swelling in his legs had decreased, and he had grown strong enough to step outside for the first time since Asami had found him. Afraid the boy would get hurt, fall, or prick himself on a thorn, Asami had ordered the servant to fetch him a cane. The said cane was tossed aside as Akihito was on all fours, a little boy sitting on his back. Several children were at play in the garden, and it seemed like they couldn't get enough of him. They all took turns riding on his back, and somehow Asami was slightly annoyed at the thought that Akihito's back might give away. Too prone to getting hurt in his opinion. If that strained look was any indication, the boy was pushing himself for his first time outdoors. Just as the thought reached him, his grandfather had appeared.

"Are you serious about keeping him?" his grandfather had asked.

"Some of the rumors running amok lately should answer that."

"So this Takaba Akihito – "

"Asami. Asami Akihito."

The old man guffawed. "I was waiting to see whether you were going to correct me on that!" He continued on laughing, his hands slapping on the wooden table gave away to a crack underneath. "Oops. I should really control myself." Removing his hand revealed splintered wood and a gorged out table.

In spite of himself, Asami smiled. However, his next words held a hint of a warning in it. "Grandfather," he spoke softly, almost whispering it, "Akihito is going to be with me indefinitely. Please accept him into our family."

"Alright." The good humor was gone. The man who had once led the family was back. "But first tell me why I should."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter: 5

Chapter Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Asami/Akihito

Summary: Asami finds a diamond in the rough…

Disclaimer: Viewfinder belongs to Yamane Ayano

Thanks a lot for the reviews everyone. Initially I hadn't really thought about continuing this story, or at least was going to put it on hiatus, but then I got quite a bit of reviews lately that kind of piqued my interest and so I'm going to start writing again. I really hope that I don't butcher it up considering that I have been a little out of touch with it. Which is why I would like to ask my readers what do they want to see happen, what are they looking forward to, etc. Give me some feedback and suggestions and we'll take it from there. Happy readings!

The first kidnapping took place three weeks after Akihito was strong enough to roam outside his room. The caretaker that was with him, since he wasn't allowed to be by himself unattended, was killed. Akihito felt her body slumped against him, falling to the ground at his feet. And then lay unmoving.

It wasn't the first time he's been near the face of death, working in a brothel his whole life. But it was the first time he felt…personally cut by a person's death. He didn't know any of the other prostitutes, nor was he on any sort of standing with the customers. But he knew the caretaker.

She took care of him. Even if it was a short while.

And then she was gone.

The need to preserve his own life took a backseat as the shock over her very quiet body immobilized him, and when the gruff hands grabbed at him, panic raised the bile to his throat and he blacked out after urging up whatever he had had for lunch that day.

He didn't know had what happened from the time he lost consciousness to the time he woke up again, but when he finally slipped out of the hazy fog of sleep, everything was back to normal:

He was in his bed.

Indoors.

All the windows were closed despite the summer heat, but the feel of the chill of the running air condition made his skin cool.

The sense of security was once again instilled.

Because the body of the man who visited him every night lied right beside him.

It was like what had happened had never happened.

Like his caretaker had never even died.

Like everything was a dream.

Was it?

The body shifted and the thick arm draped over his stomach curled and tightened its hold. Another arm sifted through the bangs over his eyes and Akihito closed them just for a second to see if that would take him back to what had happened earlier in that awful dream. It didn't.

He didn't even realize that he had been crying until the man's tongue snaked out to lick the salty tears on his face, starting from the fat drops that strayed to his cheeks and following the trail up to his eyelids. His tongue was warm and wet and glided over each eye slowly and with enough pressure that Akihito could feel it on the back of his lids.

It was somehow reassuring, and with that Akihito went back to sleep to dream dreamless dreams.

But of course the kidnapping wasn't a dream because it happened again.

And again.

….

Kirishima was going over some financial reports when the shoji doors opened and Asami walked through. He stood up and bowed to his boss before being indicated to sit back down. His boss walked over to the nearby glass table and poured himself a drink from the decanter. Asami picked up a second glass and looked Kirishima's way. The man politely declined, but the second glass was filled almost to the brim and then was set before him anyways.

Sigh, of course. No one ever really said no to Asami.

Kirishima didn't fathom how tired he really was until the smooth burn of the alcohol down his throat lifted an almost physical weight off his shoulders.

"Thank you, Asami-sama."

"You've deserved it for these past few weeks."

It was true the workload was rather atrocious and wouldn't be over for at least several more weeks when the succession would finally take place. And to make it all worse the child Asami had brought in two months prior was being assaulted by several attempts of kidnapping. It was no longer just looking after Asami, Kirishima was now placed on the tasking of looking after the kid.

But as the dutiful secretary, not a sigh of complaint made it pass his lips.

Even if it was the fifth kidnapping attempt this morning.

The boy only had a gash on his head, but boy was Asami having a field day judging from the screams he heard in the interrogation room. Thinking about it, he decided to ignore the smudge of red on the edge of the glass in his hands. At the rate Asami was plowing through, there won't be anyone left by the time the succession came rolling around.

"Why so pensive, Kirishima?"

Kirishima broke out of his reverie to stare at his boss. Those golden eyes told him he knew exactly what he had been thinking

"Nothing, sir."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter: 6

Chapter Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Asami/Akihito

Summary: Asami finds a diamond in the rough…

Disclaimer: Viewfinder belongs to Yamane Ayano

There's only one thing I can say for this chapter: HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Asami hooked his arms underneath the boy's armpits and lifted him from the bed and onto his lap.

Still underweight.

He could see how the white t-shirt the boy was wearing hung on him like the clothes on a scarecrow with two sticks hanging out as arms. And without having to take the shirt off, he knew that the boy's ribs were sticking out because he could feel them lightly pressed against his chest.

While gently and deftly unwrapping the bandages on Akihito's forehead, Asami made a mental note to talk to Dr. Kimura about adding more supplements to kid's meals. The soiled bandages were left on the bedside table and then Asami started to dab at the gash with a wet cloth. When he began to disinfect it with peroxide, Akihito hissed slightly and coiled away into the collar of his dress shirt.

The notion made Asami smile. He repositioned the boy on his lap to face in front, coaxing him with a kiss near the temple to remain still when Asami started cleaning the wound again. Once Asami was done and wrapped fresh bandages over the gash, he swiped a peck on the boy's cheek. Asami rumbled around in his suit pocket and pulled out a couple of brightly wrapped candies. He placed them close to Akihito's hands, touching so that the boy could feel them and take some.

Akihito's face lit up. His eyes widen and then slightly simmered with glee while his legs swung too and fro. His whole body lurched forward to pounce on the candies in Asami's hand like a wild tiger going for the kill.

The boy popped one into his mouth and immediately slumped back against Asami's chest, sated and basking like a cat in the sun. Asami chuckled and laid another kiss on the boy's cheek, a habit he seemed to have formed ever since he bought the little kitten in.

He zeroed in for another kiss when the boy slightly shifted his head. Asami's lips grazing for the fraction of a second on the boy's lower lip.

And then Asami felt a strange tingle in his chest that ran all the way down his spine.

He tried to ward it off with another smooch on Akihito's cheeks.

But his lips burned the more.

Asami sighed. His expression softened, but molded into something akin to contemplative.

The kid really did see him as a father. And it was only natural that Akihito saw him as so. He had saved him.

But Asami did not see the boy that way. Even if Akihito was legally his son. Sure, Akihito was young – albeit a little too young – only thirteen, but Asami wanted him.

However, he would never go so far as to rescue the kid from enslavement to only thrust him back into that world by forcing himself on the boy. He had refrained to the utmost. Akihito was still recovering from his injuries. And the boy did not yet know what was happening to him.

Before Asami ever made a move, he wanted Akihito to want it.

The man wasn't a rapist, and the thought of giving into his urges to take the boy now was not something Asami was privy to doing. He was a man of will. And although he will not deny himself what he wants, he will wait for it so as to make the encounter all that more sweet.

So for now Asami will make do with those small little kisses.

After all, he was a patient man.

But unfortunately, while he was tucking Akihito back under the covers, and lost in thought, Asami failed to notice that the boy felt the tingle, too.


End file.
